Graham Walker

Space fans are 'over the moon' today after an out-of-this-world photo exhibition landed in Barnsley.

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 Exhibition - produced by the Royal Observatory - opens to the public on Saturday and celebrates beautiful and spectacular visions of the cosmos taken by astro-photographers around the globe.

It is the first time the stunning images will be seen outside of Greenwich.

Photographs will include breath-taking shots of the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy and the Running Man Nebula.

It will be on display at he Cooper Gallery from Saturday, January 26 to Saturday, April 27 and will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing.

In 2018, the competition entered its 10th year, receiving over 4,200 submissions from 91 countries.

The extraordinary photos captured all manner of celestial spectacles: moons, stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and some of the great astronomical events of the last year.

Prizes are awarded by the Royal Observatory in eight different themed categories, as well as a Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for entrants under the age of 16.

There are also two special prizes: the Robotic Scope prize and the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer, all of which will be included in the exhibition.

Visitors can also expect to see a Cosmonaut space suit and Tim Peakes’ space food, on loan from National Space Centre, as well as take part in a wide variety of fun space activities.

Schools can take part in ‘Seeing Space’ workshops, aimed at primary school children; there will be cosmos crafts and a silent disco.

People are invited to pick up a headset and experience the display of photographs in a unique and special way, with two channels to choose from visitors can select playlists that have been especially curated by the likes of Adrian McNally from The Unthanks, Egyptologist Prof. Joann Fletcher and more.

Magic . Photo: Jingyi Zhang

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